Business Name

[MinUph]

I've been looking for a name for awhile. As I may have mentioned I am buying a business called Bob's Custom Upholstery. I want to keep the Custom Upholstery part and was going to just go with Paul's Custom Upholstery but I can only get the .net domain name for that. So what do you all think? Be honest.
The domain wont be able to include the ' but it can be remembered.
  Thanks gang.

[sofadoc]

I don't know how to vote on this one. I'm torn between "Great", and "Sounds too Italian". But over all, I like it.

My mother re-married when I was very young, so the family upholstery business was called Payne's Upholstery. But my last name isn't Payne. So many customers have addressed me as "Mr. Payne" over the years, I don't always bother to correct them. If I do (correct them), then I have to go into an in-depth explanation as to why Payne isn't my name.

When my mother died, I was faced with the option of putting my own last name on the business, or leaving it like it was.

The name Payne was so well-established, that I decided to leave it.

If the name "Bob's Custom Upholstery" is well-established in your town, and has a good reputation, I'd be tempted to leave it that way. But if the previous owner insists that you take his name off, then Pauly sounds good to me.

[baileyuph]

Tough question, sort of on the fence on this one.

I guess I would think long and hard before changing the name.  How long has it been with the current name, questions like that come up in my mind.  How long in the same location?

There are a few qustions ..................

What type of accounts are loyal to the business?  If the name was changed what would be the positives?

More research and go from there, it is a good question.

Doyle

[papasage]

it is harder to sell a business  that has your name especially the last name . when you sell and the new owner has to change it you are just buying the  equipment . like the other post why change the name . easier to change yours .not legal  but  if you bought the business that should have been in the deal and  a signed agrement that he can`t go back into the same business  for a XX 3 of years .

[chrisberry12]

what about Paul's Professional Upholstery? Everyone uses Custom, you need something new, different. I have a friend and she is "The Great Cover Up" I am on an island so I am "On Island Upholstery", Back in Syracuse I was CPR Upholstery. Pick a name that sets you apart, Have fun with the name, Whats your middle name, use that... find something you specialize in and use that in your name... wish you all the best

Chris

[MinUph]

I've pretty much decided on Minichillo's Custom Upholstery. I've had Minichillo's Upholstery for almost 50 years so it is what we figured is best. I also have the website in place for many years. It kind of fits together nicely.

  Thanks for all the feedback it was helpful in making my decision.

[bobbin]

That does have a nice ring to it.  Any feedback on teaching classes at the local CC?

[byhammerandhand]

good discussion

[sofadoc]

I had to drop the word "custom" from the business name many years ago. There seemed to be too much confusion.

Many customers mistakenly interpreted it to mean that custom-built furniture was all I specialized in. They didn't think that I did re-upholstery of existing furniture. At least 2 or  times a month, a customer would call asking "I know that you do custom chairs, but where I just get my old chair re-upholstered at?"

Of course, all this was back in the day before websites. I'm sure there would be fewer (if any) misunderstandings now.

[MinUph]

bobbin,
  I've heard nothing back from the college about that. I guess they were not interested.

[kodydog]

The folks I worked for used the name of a fabric mill in New York called Coronet. I could never figure that one out.

I always thought it best to use your given name or the name of the area your shop is located. Like Piedmont Upholstery. Gives it a personal touch and is a no brainer.

Our last name is hard to pronounce and hard to spell, the Dutch have a weird way with names. So we went with my middle name which is Ladd. And that's what all our customers call us. Only problem is Ladd Furniture Industries used to be huge in NC and Virginia so we added Designs to the end. Ladd Upholstery Designs.

Minichillo is a good name. Unique and easy to pronounce. Do a google perch and see how many Minichillo Upholstery come up. You want to pick a name that puts you first on a web search. That's why you see such weird names like Yelp, Photo Bucket and Yahoo. Of course I wouldn't get too crazy with a name for an upholstery shop. People will think you've lost your mind.

[MinUph]

I come up first and have for years. That is one of the reason the decission was made as the website has been there for many years. And starting a new one would loose that ranking. There is no other Minichillos in the business any more. My dad is gone and there aren't that many Minichillos.
  Thanks

[byhammerandhand]

If you Google search on "picking business names"  you'll find a bunch of ideas and things to avoid.

My personal biases are:
- Easy to remember (and spell)
- Evokes the image you want
- Website available
- Not trademarked by someone else
- Conveys what you do, but does not fence you in to a specific product/service or service area (e.g., avoid "St. Petersburg Vinyl Boat Seat Recovering.")
- Avoid cutesy and phonetic spellings
- Check the words in common languages / slang, at least in Spanish, German, French, and depending upon your locale's ethnic make-up maybe Italian, Polish, Swedish, etc.  Make sure it's not vulgar or negative (remember the Chevrolet "Nova" that means "does not run" in Spanish)
- If you are going to use a made-up word or foreign language word, you might have to do a lot of advertising to get brand awareness.

[sofadoc]

Normally, I agree with Hammer that you don't want to get too cutesy with your business name.
But this one, I kinda like:
http://www.tuftluck.com/

Although I don't think a name like that would catch on around here. Most of my customers don't even know what the term "tuft" means.
And the home page is no help. It has a picture of an UN-tufted chair.

But really, with each passing year, there are fewer young people that even know what an upholsterer is. You might as well try asking them what a cobbler does.

With websites and FB pages nowadays, I think you can get away with catchy-cutesy names. It isn't like the old days, when you had to have a name that was easy to look up in the phone book.

[jojo]

You might as well try asking them what a cobbler does.

Silly, everyone knows that a cobbler pairs nicely with a scoop of ice cream.